Sherri Gray Weekly Column

I wanted to introduce myself and tell you a little bit about me to
get started. This will be my first entry for the column and I'm really
excited about it. This site has really taken off with a lot of input
from various competitors. I hope it continues to do well with positive
feedback!!

To begin, my name is Sherri Gray and I am a 39 year old mother of 2
children. I started competing in 2007 in Figure and made the switch to
Bodybuilding last year in 2009. That was the best decision I could have
made. I won my first local show and went on to place second in the MW
division at Jr. USA's.

We stay pretty busy with the kids activities all year long it seems.
Not a lot of down time between sports for both of them. Therefore, I
juggle my training to fit into that schedule. I hate to miss any of
their games!! Luckily, with my job ( I work full time as an Instrument
Engineer at a Pharmaceutical company) I can go do my weight training on
my lunch break. I really don't think I would have enough energy at the
end of the work day to get a good, hard workout in. So anyway, I do
cardio in the morning before anyone gets out of bed, train at lunch then
I'm back to work, then home with the family after to do various
activities. My schedule is pretty full. However, I do fit training
into my schedule every day regardless because that is who I am and it
has become part of my lifestyle. If I don't get to the gym, then my
stress levels just go up and that is no good for any of us. I'm sure
they can confirm that!!

A lot of people call us obsessed or Gym Rats, but I think it's just
because they don't understand it all. We are driven and dedicated to
taking care of ourselves and like I said before,it's a lifestyle. It's
not just off-season, on-season, it's year round. Eating clean has
become a very big part of my life and I can't go back. Don't get me
wrong, I do have cheat meals every now and then but I don't sit down and
eat a bowl of ice cream or bag of chips every night either. I feel so
much better inside and out when I know I'm eating good. When I do have
a cheat meal, it doesn't always agree with me, unfortunately. So that
tends to make me choose my cheats a little more wisely!!

To wrap it up, I will be competing at the Arnold in March in the female
bodybuilding amateur division. I am very excited about it and hope to
bring a great package to stage. I have worked very hard in my off-season
to put on some size in some areas that needed improvements. I have had
some back issues in the past so training to avoid injury is a
priority. I guess as you get older, you train smarter as well...
I always take one show at a time to see how I do and then plan for the
next after that. I do plan on competing in another National show this
year as well, just not sure of which one yet. I hope you all reading
this will be cheering me on at the Arnold!

Take care,
Sherri